Structural and electrochemical behavior of tungsten oxide obtained by solid state reaction

Tungsten oxides have been used successfully as intercalation compounds of high performance batteries. In this communication we present a new and innovative route to obtain orthorhombic WO3 where the crystallographic structure can be carefully controlled. X-ray diffraction data indicates that a texture is obtained in the [0k0] direction, whereas XPS suggests that the valence of the tungsten atom is + 6. The electrochemical behavior of the oriented sample was studied by chronopotentiometry and its charge–discharge capacity was evaluated. The results showed stable values close to 100 mA h/g after the 70th cycle, which compares favorably to the best know WO3 compounds produced so far.